ATA Appeals Hazmat Rule On Fingerprinting Drivers

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merican Trucking Associations said it appealed to the federal government to drop its plan to fingerprint drivers permitted to haul hazardous materials, setting the stage for possible legal action, a senior association official told Transport Topics.

The trucking federation said the appeal’s purpose was to convince the Department of Homeland Security’s Transportation Security Administration to implement a transportation-worker identification card and then apply the TWIC’s procedures for assessing security threats to issuing hazmat endorsements on commercial driver licenses.

“We just think this provides us with the basis to further challenge [fingerprinting drivers] in court, if necessary,” ATA General Counsel and Senior Vice President Richard Holcomb said in a Dec. 22 interview.

The appeal, filed Dec. 22, called for TSA to “postpone the implementation of the state-based fingerprint collection program.”

For the full story, see the Jan. 3 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.